Location: Lehman Hall, 1st floor
Telephone: (212) 854-3846
Email: resbar@barnard.edu

Placing Materials on Reserve -- Frequently Asked Questions

Submitting a List | Circulation | Processing Requests
Articles and Course Packs | List Status | Electronic Reserves

• SUBMITTING A LIST

Where should I submit my list?
Barnard Library Reserve supports all Barnard courses and any course taught by Barnard faculty. 

However, course reserve lists may not be duplicated at multiple libraries.  Faculty teaching V or W courses can consult the information at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/reserves/ to determine the most appropriate location for their reserves.

When should I submit my reserve list?
Around the middle of each semester, the Reserve Department sends each faculty member reserve request forms and copies of the reserve lists for courses they taught the previous semester.  For example, in the Spring we will send you a copy of your reserve lists for the previous Fall semester, and ask you to submit your reserve requests for the upcoming Fall.  In general, we process requests in the order that they are received.  Submitting your request before the end of the current semester makes it much easier for us to have your materials processed and ready for use when your students need them next semester.

How should I submit my reserve list?
You may send your reserve list via campus mail (Reserve, Barnard Library), email (resbar@barnard.edu), or fax (212-854-3766) or you may bring it to the Reserve Department on the 1st floor of the Library.

How much bibliographic information do you need for each book or article requested?
Whenever possible, please give us a complete bibliographic citation.  For a book, please supply the author, title, publisher, edition and date.   Please specify if you require a specific edition or translation of a work. 

For a periodical article, please supply the author, title, journal title, volume number, date, and pagination.
 

• CIRCULATION

How long do materials stay on reserve?
Books remain on reserve for three semesters in order to minimize processing for courses taught every year.  Photocopies and personal copies are removed from reserve immediately after the semester that they are used. In both the Fall and Spring semesters, Reserve staff deprocess any material from the corresponding previous semester that has not been reactivated.

If I place a title on reserve, are all copies of the book placed on reserve?
As a general rule, yes.  
 

• PROCESSING REQUESTS

What if Barnard does not own a book that I want placed on reserve?
If Barnard doesn't own a book that you request for course reserves, we will do our best to acquire it.  If it is in print, we can purchase the necessary number of copies.  If the book is available at a Columbia library, we can borrow it and place it on reserve at Barnard.  If it is out of print, we will do our best to obtain it.  Faculty can also lend us personal copies of books to be put on reserve.

May I check a book out of another library and bring it to reserves?
No.  In order to appear correctly in the Course Reserve database in CLIO, a library-to-library transaction is necessary.

How many copies of each title will be placed on reserve?
Our rule of thumb for books is one copy for every 20 students in a class.  A maximum of two photocopies of a journal article will be put on reserve.  We will purchase only one copy of a course pack.   

How many items may I place on reserve?
There is no defined limit.  However, only copies of required readings are put on reserve.  Recommended or Supplementary readings are not processed for reserve.

All Course Reserve requests must comply with United Sates Copyright law.  Consult the Library's Notes on Copyright for a summary of our basic policies.
 

• ARTICLES AND COURSE PACKS

How do I place articles on Reserve?
[See below for electronic reserves.]  Print copies of articles, individual chapters, review notes, answer keys, etc. may be placed on Reserve. Copyright rules prevent the Reserve Department from making copies of these materials, but faculty may submit photocopies that they have made (in compliance with the "Fair Use" doctrine of copyright law), which will be placed in folders and made available for students.

What about course packs?
Any course pack put on reserve MUST meet copyright guidelines.  Generally speaking, course packs produced by any copy shop will have all necessary copyright approvals. The Reserve Department will buy no more than one copy of a course pack but will accept other copies supplied by faculty (provided that they are copyright compliant).
 

• LIST STATUS

May I check the status of my reserve lists?
Faculty may check the status of lists for the current semester by going to CLIO.  On the opening screen, click on the Course Reserve tab at the top of the page.  You can then search by Instructor, Section Key or Course.  At present, only information for the semester in session is available online.

In the list for each class, faculty can see how many copies are available, when and how many copies have been ordered, what titles are out of print, or what titles are available on reserve at other Columbia Libraries.
 

• ELECTRONIC RESERVES

How can I have reserve materials available electronically?
Library staff will establish a link to any journal article on a reserve list if the article is available electronically in any of the services to which Barnard has access.

The Library will scan photocopies of articles from journals not available to us electronically and chapters from books if submitted by faculty for reserves. Under the fair use provision, we will scan one article from an issue of a journal and one or two chapters (depending on length) from a book.

General Information about Barnard Reserves for Students